Overview
Territory annexed to certain municipalities is addressed via Wis. stats. 117.132. Click the appropriate link below for specific information.
Application - Wis. Stats. 117.132(1)
Applies to the proposed attachment of territory to a school district which is wholly located in a county with a population of more than 325,000 and less than 500,000 (such as Dane County).
Initiation of Procedures - Wis. Stats. 117.132(2)
This process can be initiated in either of two ways:
- If territory is annexed to a municipality, the territory is not included in the municipal school district and on the date of the annexation, less than 50 percent of the land in the annexed territory is developed (s. 117.132(1m)(b), Wis. Stats.), the school board of the municipal school district (the annexing school board) may adopt a resolution requesting to meet with the school board of the district in which the territory is located to consider the detachment of the territory from that district and its attachment to the annexing municipal school district. The resolution shall include a description of the territory sufficiently accurate to determine its location in the school district in which it is located, as certified by the clerk of the annexing municipality.
- If territory is annexed to a municipality and is not included in the municipal school district, the owners of 50 percent of such annexed territory, as measured by its assessed valuation divided by the assessment ratio, may file a written petition with the clerk of the school district in which the territory is currently located requesting the detachment. The petition shall include a description of the territory sufficiently accurate to determine its location in the school district in which it is located, as certified by the clerk of the annexing municipality.
School Board Action - Wis. Stats. 117.132(3)
If, in the first July following the adoption of the resolution to transfer territory or the receipt of a petition to transfer territory, the school boards agree to transfer the territory, the territory is transferred the following July 1. Failure of a school board to adopt a resolution either ordering or denying the reorganization constitutes a denial of the reorganization by that school board.
Board Review - Wis. Stats. 117.132(4)
If the school boards do not agree to transfer the territory and the territory is less than 50 percent developed, either affected school board may request the School District Boundary Appeal Board (SDBAB) before September 1 to review the proposed transfer. Owners of 50 percent or more of the annexed territory may also petition for review by the board before September 1. Before the following January 15 the SDBAB shall issue an order either affirming the denial of the proposed reorganization or detaching all or part of the annexed territory described in the resolution or petition.
If the SDBAB orders territory detached and attached to the municipal district, the reorganization shall take effect on the following July 1.
Related Issues
S.117.25(2), Wis. Stats., states that when territory is detached from one school district and attached to another school district the following apply: Assets and liabilities are assigned to the school districts under s. 66.0235, Wis. Stats., on the effective date of the reorganization. The process may include assets and liabilities being assigned proportionally to the affected school districts based on the ratio of the equalized valuation of the transferred territory to the equalized valuation of all taxable property in the detaching school district (s. 66.0235(2c)(a), Wis. Stats.).
Wis. Stats. 66.0235(2c)(b) provides for an alternate procedure to be used wherein the affected school boards adopt identical resolutions stating the agreed-upon division of assets and liabilities. The resolution must pass in each affected school board by a three-fourths vote in favor of the resolution.
Districts holding state trust fund loans should refer to s. 66.0235(10), Wis. Stats., for the procedure to transfer this debt.
Any employee of the school district from which territory is detached who is laid off as a result of the reorganization has priority over other persons, except employees of the school district to which the territory is attached and former employees of that school district who were laid off from that school district, for three years after the effective date of the reorganization for new positions and vacant positions for which he or she is qualified in the school district to which the territory is attached (117.25 (2)(b)(1), Wis. Stats.).
Any person who wishes to exercise this priority shall notify the school district to which the territory is attached, in writing, that he or she wishes to be considered for any new position or vacant position and shall include in the notice the address to be used by the school district to notify the person of such positions (s. 117.25 (2)(b)(2), Wis. Stats.).
Appeal to Circuit Court - Wis. Stats. 117.14
Any person aggrieved by any order of the School District Boundary Appeal Board or Appeal Panel may appeal the order to a circuit court within 30 days after copies of the order are filed with the secretary of the board under s. 117.17(2), Wis. Stats. To begin the appeal, the aggrieved person must serve written notice, specifically stating the grounds for the appeal, upon the Secretary of the School District Boundary Appeal Board and must file the notice with the clerk of circuit court in any county in which any territory of any affected school district is located.
What the Statutes Say with Regard to Notification
- The clerk of the municipal school district shall send a certified copy of the petition or resolution to the school board of the school district in which the annexed territory is located, to all owners of territory located in the annexed territory and to DPI (Wis. Stats. 117.132(2)(a) & (b)).
- The school district clerk of a district adopting a resolution must, within five days after the adoption of the resolution, send a certified copy of the resolution to the school board of the other affected district and to DPI (Wis. Stats. 117.132(3)).